Identity Crisis
by daintyACORN
Summary: Trouble started when I got lost in my new school. That was when I discovered that my classmate, Shishido Ryo, was gay. ShishidoxOC
1. Chapter 1

****_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis (any of the characters and places in it).**_****

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><p>My first day in my new school and what do I get?<p>

A broken leg.

But all that's to be saved for later.

Monday morning, I put extra effort into brushing (such a hassle) my hair, which was much harder than I remember it ever being since my hair was layered and had grown out over the summer and it now reached a little below my shoulders. I even decided to use one of my nicer bags and not my trainer one. As I walked through the gates of my new school, the first thing I thought to compare it to was heaven. And that's not even an exaggeration – the school is literally brimming with riches (and obviously rich people). It was very, very different from the small school that I transferred from.

But it scared me to be here, so to say the least. And a part of me scolded that when one yearns to reach heaven, one must strive to face all the challenges it brings. Coming in senior year of junior high meant that everyone probably had their own cliques, had marked their territories – that everyone had and did their own thing.

And that meant that I, being the new girl, had to put in some extra effort to fit in.

Oh right, my name. It's Yuko. Yuko, the new girl.

But Lord knows that I hoped that wasn't true. The other part of me, the part that did not believe in the Law of Teenagers, liked to believe that students in Hyoutei were kind and pleasant and friendly and ever-so-considerate to those who needed their help the most (like maybe, for example, new students).

That part of me was both wrong and right… maybe more wrong than right. From the moment I stepped into the corridors, I understood just what kind of 'heaven' I was entering. While there were some who did in fact look kind and pleasant and friendly and ever-so-considerate (that really, I just wanted to run up to them and introduce myself and stay be their sides for the rest of my life), the rest of the population looked plain obnoxious. At least, the girls did. Boys generally look the same to me, which is why I liked to hang out with them just as much back in my old school.

I started to doubt then whether this was heaven or hell or just some misplaced world in between.

Fate, however, was kind enough to have me placed in a room that seemed to be filled with more angels than demons. Fate was so kind that even before the start of homeroom, I'd made more than just a few friends in my class, and the morning saw me mingling with all these people, getting involved in their catching-up with each other and doing my own introductions and telling my own tales.

One girl, Asami Sora, stared at me so hard when I told them about how my adopted pet squirrel ran away mid-summer (After I took him to the vet and cared for him after I found him near-dead in our lawn. Ungrateful, I say). And then she screamed, "Oh my gosh, my squirrel ran away too!"

Really, what were the odds?

So when the teacher came in, I was in the best a mood as I could get.

Of course, I didn't have a seat yet, but I was in a great mood.

"Settle down, settle down." The teacher was tall and looked strict but his voice had a lazy tone to it. It took him a few moments to realize that I, who had been standing by the door all the while, was not quite in place. "Ah! You're the new student," he said, to me and I nodded as politely as I could. He shuffled through the papers in his hands before proceeding to address the class.

"Alright, is everyone settled? Welcome back everybody. From this moment on, I would like you to forget all of that summer nonsense and move on with the rest of your lives. I am Kobayashi Takeshi and I will be your homeroom adviser."

A mix of hushed cheers and not-so-hushed groans engulfed the silence of the room, which prodded to Kobayashi-sensei to lightly slap the table to call all attention back to him.

That was when I got a good look at my classmates-to-be. The boys took up more than half the class population – and I earlier observed that in the school, there really were more boys than girls. Scattered in the middle was the group of girls I'd gotten to know that morning. The boys that filled the rest of the room were the most varied specimens of the male species I had ever seen: there was a boy with his hair highlighted green (who does that?); another who was seated at the back and hitting on the girl in front of him (that's pardonable, he is a boy after all); there was one with square-framed – and I really mean square – glasses; an orange-haired boy in the front who seemed to be sleeping, and by the window was one with long, brown hair that made him look like a girl seeing that it was prettier than the hair of a lot of girls I knew.

…Okay, maybe I didn't know that many girls. There were probably more girls in this school than I'd ever known. But hey, I told you, I came from a small school.

"I understand that all of you are not new to Hyoutei, save for this young lady here," he gestured to me, "Please introduce yourself."

I bowed and I tried my best to look as lady-like as possible and without gloating to get them to like me (I did not want to be branded a cocky bitch on the very first day), which was a little hard, and I hoped it worked. "Hello, I am Chiba Yukako. My parents and friends call me Yuko."

To cut things short, after I received a zombified chorus greeting from my classmates, Kobayashi-sensei assigned me to sit in the chair next to the sleeping, orange-headed boy in the front.

And to my surprise, he perked up the moment I took my seat. "Hiii! You're a new student?" He tried to whisper his words but it didn't work. "We haven't had a new student in so long. What did you say your name was? Yoko?"

"Yuko," I corrected.

"Yuko-chan! You don't mind me calling you Yuko-chan, right? I'm Akutagawa Jirou!"

The guy beamed at me with what might have been the happiest face I've ever seen. And though I didn't like the fact that his teeth were so shiny that it sent the light glaring right into my eye, I liked him. And so I put him on my list of people I had to befriend.

"Nice to meet you, Akutagawa-"

"Don't call me that! Call me Jirou!"

"…Jirou-san."

"Kun."

"Jirou-san."

"Mou, you're stubborn."

Jirou then promised to show me around during lunch, declaring that _everybody_ was prone to getting lost in Hyoutei.

Lunch time soon came, after I whisked through the first half of the day without feeling too out of place, but guess what? Jirou was sound asleep on his desk.

I was contemplating on whether I would coo and go 'Aww, how cute,' or bang my head on the wall. I rather regretted letting him be my tour guide – it made me feel like I would only end up more lost.

While I was staring at Jirou, still trying to figure out what to do, Asami Sora ran up to me and invited me to join them for lunch with her all too perky voice. "Yuko-chan! What are you waiting for? Come on, we'll introduce you to our other friends!"

"Gomen, Sora-chan, I promised him," I said, pointing at the sleeping boy, and her face took on a look of surprise before she laughed.

"Well, good luck? Come join us tomorrow then! Okay? Okay!" She took my hand and quite forcibly intertwined her pinky with mine, shook it once, then ran off to catch her friends.

After that, I wasn't so sure about their group. They gave off cheerleader vibes.

…I suppose that's fine.

"Chiba-san, you'd better find someone else to go with," someone chuckled from behind, and I turned to face a group of boys, including the one with green highlights. "You can sit with us. Just look for us in the cafeteria. But if you're staying, good luck waking him up." The one who spoke shrugged and they walked off.

"Good luck waking him up… what is that supposed to mean?" I started tapping his shoulder, and when that didn't work, I shook him lightly.

"You're supposed to do this to wake him up."

Before I could even look up to see who spoke, a book came flying down on Jirou's head. It was the boy with the pretty, long hair. I didn't know if that was a friendly or more provoking gesture. Either way, it didn't leave me a very good first impression of him. "Hey!"

Jirou raised his head groggily, stared at both of us, and then yawned, "That hurt."

"Atobe wants us to fill out the reservation forms before lunch ends." This guy sure knew what it meant to go straight to the point.

"Eh? Now? But I promised her!" Jirou pointed at me, and pretty haired boy didn't look too happy.

He looked – or rather, scrutinized – me, before flicking his head away. "Hn."

The nerve of him. So we were on a 'Hn' basis now, were we? I was fine with that, no problem. Look, if you're nice, I'll be nice. If you're not, I won't be. Simple as that.

Obviously, this guy wasn't nice. And the way he looked at me? He looked at me like I was a girl – and I am a girl but it was meant that as a bad thing. The look in his eyes screamed 'I do not hang out with girls.' That was a huge step to my pride and frankly, my pride did not like getting stepped on.

"I know! Let's take her with us!" Jirou was now standing up, grasping my arm and ready to pull me along.

"No need, Jirou-san," I moved my arm making him let go, "Since this particular classmate of ours does not seem to like my company."

Pretty head's (pretty haired boy is much too long) lazy look turned into a glare, and I could already feel the string of not so nice words forming in his mouth but Jirou spoke before he could, slapping pretty head's back in the process.

"Oh, you haven't met! Shishido, introduce yourself!"

He scowled but did so anyway, nodding at me albeit grudgingly, "Shishido Ryo, yokoshiku." I nodded back with the same flavor, which only served to make his scowl deepen.

Jirou didn't seem to notice the immediate tension between us, and went off, calling to Shishido to hurry up so he could sleep again.

Shishido sent me one more scowl before leaving. "You've got guts," he said. You know how that's usually said as a good thing? Like, I don't know, as some sort of motivation?

When he said it, it felt like he was trying to bore holes into me, like he was telling me to back off.

Like I would do that. There he was, stepping on my pride – again. I wasn't going to forget this.

"So I do," I said with a smile. And just like that, he left, his pretty, long hair swaying behind him. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to chop it all off.

I managed to find my way to the cafeteria. I planned to sit with Sora and her friends since they seemed most willing to have me, but I caught a glimpse of them skipping out of the room to who knows where (to their boyfriends? To the bathroom? The possibilities are endless). I spotted the guy with the green highlights waving to me from one of the tables, and I decided to sit with them.

That was probably the smartest decision of the day I've made. Good people, good people.

The afternoon of that day was almost like the first half. Come dismissal time, I was readying myself to leave when I remembered that my mom specifically asked me to take pictures of the place so she could send it to Tou-san who was currently on a business trip to Canada (she absolutely refused to use the pictures online and on the catalogues, saying that personal was always better than professional).

"Yuko-chan!" Jirou, who was sleeping only a few moments ago, was once again standing before me. "I didn't get to tour you during lunch. Want to go now?"

"Sure thing," I smiled, _very_ thankful for the offer (who knows what could've happened if I'd gone on my own), waving the camera to show him, "I remembered that my mom wants me to take pictures."

"Yosh!"

I suppose I was wrong to assume that he wouldn't be a good tour guide. He rather was.

Except, well, he got easily distracted. Like how when he was explaining to me the many other ways to get to the gymnasium aside from the entrance we were at, he suddenly started talking about fish. Turns out he took notice of the trees and the trees had orange flowers and he had a cousin who had a bright orange koi fish.

Ta-da: fish. And I thought I had a short attention span.

But putting all those little moments aside, he made a good tour guide, like I said, and was successful in the one thing he was supposed to do: make sure I wouldn't get lost.

…Until, while I was taking pictures of one of the gardens, I turned to see he was gone.

Just… gone. Poof. Nada. He just vanished – left me stuck out in a garden somewhere in this school that was the size of an airport.

And thus began my survival journey. I didn't know where I was going, but I did my best (and I was doing a pretty good job) to keep calm because panicking would obviously not do me any good. I got to see more of the school while I was lost like that, much to my surprise. Of course, I didn't know what and for what all those buildings and places I saw were, but at least I knew what they looked like and where they were.

I also realized that it was the most wonderful opportunity to take pictures. And I may not have been a professional photographer but mind you, I got some damn good shots.

I walked into a particularly nice looking garden (there were so many of them). I held up my digital camera and started snapping away while walking through it. When I walked forward and looked to the left: I got a beautiful picture of swings against the trees and a blue sky. I walked forward some more and looked to the right: a picture of… grass. I turned left and snapped at what was straight ahead: a picture of trees and birds. I stayed in place and turned to my right: a picture of trees and two boys in the distance who looked like they were kissing.

Oh. Oh shit.

I shook my head. Maybe I was getting delusional. But when I lowered my camera, I saw that they were indeed there. They were far from me but they were there – pressed up against each other, and it looked like one of them, the one who had his back turned to me, even had his hand on the other boy's chest. He seemed to be clutching his shirt.

Wow, that was farther than I've ever gotten with a guy. I've only had one boyfriend and we never even kissed (he was an ass, don't ask).

Okay, so I had a picture of two guys kissing each other in the middle of one of the school's deserted gardens, no biggie.

I suppose my only mistake was that I stayed and there and watched them. I stayed there for a good ten seconds more and just stared. Who wouldn't? It wasn't everyday something like this happened.

That was when I noticed that the boy whose back was turned to me had very nice long, brown hair that was held up in a ponytail, and I couldn't help but gasp and let my eyes widen at the sudden realization. That was pretty head Shishido.

Pretty head Shishido who stepped on my pride twice today was kissing a guy.

All of a sudden, the guy who was in my line of sight looked up and looked straight at me, and I swear that even though he was far, I could see some sort of amusement in his eyes.

That was when I bolted. I didn't really know where I was going; I just had to make sure I was gone from there. If that really was pretty head, then given his attitude, I didn't want to get caught up in anything rough with him. And I'm pretty sure that other guy would come running after me too if I stayed. All I could hope for was that he didn't know me, or didn't recognize me at least.

When I was sure that I was a considerable distance away, I slowed down my pace to a walk. Then I took out my camera and pressed play and zoomed in on that last picture.

And good grief, it really was him. It was his hair, it was his build, I could see the side of his face – it was Shishido. In the shot though, he covered up the other guy so I couldn't tell who it was. All I could see of him was his shaggy blue hair.

I did not like this one bit.

You see, I don't have a very good history with homosexual men. A lot of girls seem to say that gay guys are fun to be around, but_ do__ not__ be__ fooled_. I once had a classmate who was openly gay and I was thus introduced to his posse of other openly gay men. Because I liked to hang out with guys just as much as I hung out with my girlfriends, it suffices to say that they didn't like me just because of that fact.

They had the impression that I was one of the boys so I could get the boys.

As if.

So while I was walking, looking at my camera, all these thoughts running through my head, I didn't notice the steps.

Need I say what happened next? I fell. Hard.

Good thing there was someone else there when it happened. The girl who was there was friendly and helped me to the infirmary. I realized I should apologize to her soon. I was rather prickly and rude then because of the pain.

So anyway, the nurse did what she could but soon handed me over to the care of real medics who took me to the hospital, where I was met by my worried mother.

Then they told me that my leg was broken, but they at the same time told me that it wasn't a _bad_ break on a _big_ bone so it would _only_ take about six to eight weeks to heal.

_Only?_ Six to eight weeks is forever.

I sighed. It was the only thing I could do. Not that I could reverse the situation.

Great god, I was right, this isn't heaven – but I suppose that neither is it too bad to be hell. Just some messed-up world in between.

And now here I am with a broken leg, miserable beyond words.

It didn't make things any better to remember the fact that I was in invited to Hyoutei because I was to receive an athletic scholarship. Now I can't run and I can only hope that I'll be allowed to stay.

And I put the blame on one person and one person alone: all this is because of my stupid classmate, Shishido.

It's all because of his being gay.

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><p><strong><em>The story came into my head the other day while I was writing my AtobexOC fic. <em>**

**_I said in one of my Author's Notes in my other story that Shishido is a character I find particularly hard to write, which is why I didn't write much of him there. But that's exactly the reason why he is the center of this story right here. I wanted to challenge myself a little. This chapter doesn't have much of Shishido yet, only because I wanted to introduce my character first (that's what I always do)._**

**_So anyway. It's a first for me to be writing in this style. I have to say that it was rather hard at the beginning, but I think I'm getting the hang of it._**

**_So. Any thoughts? Should I continue?_**


	2. Chapter 2

******_**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Prince of Tennis (any of the characters and places in it).**_******

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><p>Did you know that Hyoutei's infirmary is very, very… pretty?<p>

I'm telling you right now that it is. It feels like being in my own private room in some luxury hospital (assuming that there is such a thing).

But no matter how pretty it is, the infirmary is definitely not where I wanted to spend my first few weeks in Hyoutei.

Sad though that it's exactly the situation I'm in right now.

I dropped flat to the bed, letting my crutches rest beside me, after the school nurse relayed to me for the nth time all the pointers and procedures I had to remember and go through so that my leg would heal as fast as possible. It was both tiring and disheartening to have to think about it.

"Chiba-san, Tori-sensei said he would drop by."

My eyes shot up and I forced myself to sit back up straight. I didn't just hear what I thought the nurse said, did I?

I did.

I heard the faint tinkling of chimes as the infirmary's double doors swung open. In stepped Tori-sensei, the sports director of the school. It actually took me some time to recognize him because he was dressed in slacks and a coat, and not in the track suit I usually saw him in during the few times I'd gone to Hyoutei during the summer for when they tested me for my running time.

"Chiba," he nodded, and I bowed slightly from my spot on the bed, seeing that I couldn't stand up to greet him properly. He pulled up a chair, sat in front of me, and crossed his arms before sighing, "Explain."

In my head, I had the perfect speech planned out in preparation for the moment he asked how and why it happened (which was right now), which involved me telling him the story of two homosexual young men. Who knows, it might disgust him and he might make them leave altogether, which would obviously be better for me.

But at the very last second, I decided against it (because I'm such a nice person. And… yes, because it's logical, that too). "I…" Trailing, I realized I didn't know what to say if I hadn't gone with my initial option. "I fell down the stairs."

He raised a brow, "Because?"

It was a good thing I didn't have my camera, or I might have been tempted to pull it out and flash him the picture. "I was careless, sir." It annoyed me that I had to say so. It only made it seem like I was stupid.

He paused for some moments and then stood up and patted the dust of his clothes (as if there were any), and I prepared myself for some scolding, or maybe for the news that I would have to leave.

"Okay," he shrugged, "get better."

I was extremely confused.

"Tori-sensei," I called as he was making his way to the door, "Will I still be a part of the team?"

"That will depend on you, Chiba," he said, looking back only once. "Get better," he said again, and then left.

I was confused. The man gives me a scholarship and then acts like it doesn't matter. Then again, it is Hyoutei, and that would mean they probably already had a full roster of good runners. It only made me feel worse.

"You're runner?"

The voice startled me, and I turned to see – guess who – none other than pretty head. He was lying on his stomach on a bed not too far from mine, with his long brown and hair and lazy eyes. My brows were furrowed by now. Just how long has he been there? "Yes," was my curt reply.

"You don't look like it," he yawned, sitting up and stretching his neck in circles. I wanted to tell him that okay, maybe I didn't look like a runner, but hey, he didn't look like a boy, and I had a better excuse. But something in his voice made me think twice. His tone wasn't like the one he used on me yesterday at all. It even made his words seem like a compliment.

And so, I had no words, which prompted me to start fluffing the pillow on the bed I was on to avoid making me look even more stupid.

From the corner of my eye, I saw put on his shoes, tie his laces, and stand up. He looked around, presumably for the nurse, before yawning again. Since his bed was farther from the door than mine was, it was inevitable that he pass by, and he did, stopping a few feet away from me. "Aren't you going to class?"

I set the pillow down, slipped my feet into my rubber slippers (which I hate because still prefer real, comfy shoes, thank you very much) and looked up at him. He had his hands in his pockets and his head tilted to the side. Really, this boy – oh wait, or, uh… should I say girl – with such sluggish demeanor and bipolar tendencies couldn't be doing much with his life. It didn't look like it. He probably didn't even play a sport. I only raised my eyebrows at him. Was he taunting me? No, it didn't sound like it. So what on earth was he trying to do?

Suddenly, as if he was struck by some invisible bolt of lightning, his eyes widened and he took a step back, glaring accusingly at me. And thus, the pretty head I knew came back to earth from whatever world he was spending time in. "You!"

As much as I would have loved to laugh at how slow he was, I couldn't, because I didn't know if that 'You!' was for our wonderful first encounter in class or if it was because he knew I saw them kissing and that I had a picture. My anxiousness didn't show, of course, and I answered as calmly as possible, "Yes, me?"

A scowl made its way to his face. He obviously recognized me now. "Che. I take it back, better if you stay here."

I liked it better when he didn't recognize me.

He made his way out while I still wasn't sure of what his frustration with me was due to. "Chiba, that's your name, right?" He said while he was halfway through the double doors of the infirmary (a.k.a. the luxury hospital), "You fell down the stairs? Gekidasa daze."

If I wasn't so incapacitated right now I would have marched up to him and cut that pretty hair of his off and I would have waved it in front of his face. And I would've tripped him and laughed, but I would have helped him up too because that would obviously leave a crack his pride.

Hmph. The nerve of him.

When the nurse came back in, I reached for my crutches and pushed all thoughts of him to the back of my mind (because that was the only spot in my brain he was worthy of). She helped me up and even suggested the use of a wheelchair, which I said no to immediately. I did not like feeling helpless and a wheelchair wasn't going to aid me in that.

"Please, Yukako-san, it would help," she insisted.

I tried to decline as politely as I could, "Please, I would rather not. Thank you though." She didn't seem to care after that.

I hobbled through the corridors on the way to my classroom, and it would probably take a bit more time for me to get used to the crutches. When I felt that I was finally going steady, I came to what was the log in my road.

The stairs.

My classroom was on the third floor, and pray tell, how in the name of all things good and great was I supposed to get myself up there without doing further damage to myself? But seeing that I would do more damage to my reputation as a new student and possibly to my academic standing (because the Hyoutei faculty is crazy and does not at all care to lessen the amount of work and lessons even on the first day), I started making my way up.

I was taking it one step at a time – literally. And at the rate I was going, by the time I get to my classroom, I'd probably already have to make my way down again and go home.

Eventually, I did make it to the second floor, and I checked my watch to see that I'd taken ten minutes going up. I let the crutches lean on the wall as I gave my arms a break. They were really starting to hurt (I'm not that heavy, am I?).

And then, as I was getting ready to take on that next flight of stairs, there came a sharp but drawling voice from somewhere behind, "Late on the second day of class, ahn?"

When I turned, I saw a quite – no, very – handsome guy making his way towards me. He gave off all-rounder vibes, and I got the impression that he was one of those guys who just had to be good at everything, and was hot to boot. He must be a prefect too, or maybe a member of the student government.

You know what, I think I might make a good friend out of him.

"Not exactly my fault," I said.

It wasn't long after I turned to face him that he noticed my crutches, and he immediately took on an apologetic tone, "Ahn? You are injured? A lady must never be left to fend for herself especially in such cases. Ore-sama will be back with help. Stay here." Then he left.

…He just referred to himself as ore-sama. _Ore-sama._

You know what, maybe making a good friend out of him would take some time.

Anyway, setting that whole ore-sama thing aside, I stayed there just as he said, not that I had much of a choice (and it's not like he gave me time to answer him). I wasn't exactly as free to move as I would have liked to be.

True to his word Mr. Ore-sama sauntered back up the stairs after a few minutes, but this time with a giant in tow. And I'm not even kidding when I say giant. He was huge, too huge for a student, and I assumed he was one because he was in the same uniform. If this is what he meant by help then I would rather pass because it seemed more like he was going to eat me up.

"Help her up, Kabaji," said Mr. Ore-sama and, with a snap of his fingers, the giant boy slung my bag over one shoulder and then lifted me up bridal style.

I didn't know what to think, and I didn't really have time to because as soon as he picked me up, we were up on the third floor. Only then did my brain connect to my mouth, "Put-put me down!" It came out so high and odd and I doubted if it was really me speaking.

"Usu."

Yep, that was me. I just discovered my mouse voice.

"Arigatou, Kabaji," Mr. Ore-sama followed up the stairs and handed me my crutches while Kabaji – I assumed that was his name – handed me my bag, "Get back to class now. Ore-sama will see you later at the club meeting."

"Usu."

I followed Kabaji with my eyes. "Do you really just order him around like that?" I could tell that my question surprised him – it surprised even me – and I wondered how he would react. Maybe he'd get angry with me and tell me off for being so rude?

Well, it was quite the opposite. He laughed a good, long, hearty laugh, "Is that how you see it?"

"Frankly speaking, yes." He was blunt with words, and so I was blunt with mine.

"You are a new student, I see. What is your name?"

"Chiba Yukako. Yuko for short. And you are?"

A smirk, the most glorious and pride-filled smirk I have ever seen in my whole existence in this world, managed to finds its way to his face, "Atobe Keigo. And all of this, Chiba-san," he said, although I wasn't quite sure what he was referring to, "you will understand in due time, which is probably and hopefully not too long from now. Welcome to Hyoutei."

And with that, he was gone.

As I dragged my crippled self to the classroom, I thought about that little scene I had with Atobe. I don't quite know how I feel about him, although I do suppose that his presence would provide sufficient humor, if not annoyance (but even with this, I like to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that there might be the chance that he's human and normal after all and we'll get along just fine).

I knocked and walked in the room and found the teacher standing in front of the desk holding flash cards in her hands (I don't remember which teacher taught which subject, okay, that's too much to remember for a day, and I already had my leg to worry about). She looked surprised for a bit, and a little offended, I assumed, but just like with Atobe, it all faded and she ushered me into the classroom where I was further met with whispers and gasps (and Asami Sora with an "Oh my god!").

I tried not to sigh. Dear Kobayashi-sensei obviously failed to inform them that their new classmate – moi – was going to have a bit of trouble for the next few weeks.

The murmuring died down once I took my seat next to Jirou, who was again sound asleep. And because the teacher seemed to have no problems with him sleeping, I figured it must have been completely normal.

This time, I couldn't stop the sigh from coming.

First two periods flew by pretty quickly, and when recess came, I was swarmed by all the people I'd befriended yesterday. For a while, I pretended they were all part of my fan club and were around to worship me.

Then the questions came.

"Chiba-san, are you okay?"

"Ahh! Yuko-chan! What happened?"

"Where? How?"

"Oy Chiba, got into a mess on your first day?"

I once again explained the situation I was in, minus all that about pretty head, of course, "I fell down the stairs while going around the campus yesterday," I said, again feeling like I was making myself stupid. "It's pretty annoying how you don't notice some of the steps around," I added, to try to save face.

This was followed by a ruckus and I really couldn't understand anything anyone was saying. Kyohei (the guy with the green highlights) looked like he was just as frazzled as I was because he started waving away some of the girls that were pushing too close to ask, and he eventually left, muttering a goodbye which I managed to pick out from all the words being thrown around.

"Chotto!" Sora's high pitched voice rose above the others, "Is this why you were late to class, Yuko-chan?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I had problems getting up to the room." The moment I said this, I caught sight of pretty head who was standing just outside the little circle around me, and I decided that now would be the perfect time to get back at him for his nasty snarks. "I would've gotten here sooner, actually," I purposely made my voice louder, and that caught the attention of more people, and then I tried to make my voice sound as innocent as possible (as far as I could go with that), "because one of our classmates was down there with me. But, you know, he wasn't very nice, didn't even bother helping me out or even ask if I was okay."

"Eh? Who?" Wailed one of the girls, whose name I do not recall.

"The boy with the long hair," I pointed out, looking straight at him, "His name is Shishido, I think."

At that moment, he gave me such a mean look that would have killed me if it could, but before he could do anything about it, there came a chorus of "Eeh? Shishido, you're so mean!" from all my new friends, and a few words like "Oy, Shishido, you should know how to treat our new classmate better" from the boys.

Ah, such lovely words.

It's needless to say that the rest of recess was fun. So was lunch.

Dismissal time came and I was getting ready to leave, with a bunch of my classmates helping me out with my stuff since it was hell trying to bend down and reach for them.

Pretty head walked up to me then, hands is his pockets and with a look so lethal, "You," he started and I wanted to shout out 'look everybody, he's being mean again' just for fun, but decided against it. "You are e-"

"Yoko-chaaan!"

Pretty head never got to finish his sentence because he was cut by Jirou (I'm pretty convinced he slept through the whole day because this is the first time today I've seen him awake).

"It's Yuko-" I corrected, but I doubt he got it because he cut me off too.

"I'm so, so, so, so, sorry!" He wailed, running over and bowing, and hugging me like there was no tomorrow, "Kabaji carried me away yesterday and I was calling for you but you couldn't hear me because you were busy taking pictures! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"Ouch, ouch, it's okay, Jirou-san! Now please, ouch, my leg!"

"Huh?" It's funny how he didn't notice it 'til I pointed it out. "Oh! You're injured! I'm sorry!"

"It's fine," I cut in again, before he could ask how and why it happened because I really didn't feel like going through another explanation. "Jirou-san,"

"Kun! Ji-rou-kun." He said, syllabicating his name in another attempt to get me to drop the –san suffix.

I smiled, "Jirou-san."

"Kun," he said again before lighting up, "Oh, I know! I'll make it up to you later! Do you like ice cream? I like ice cream. I also like cake."

"I have to get home right after school, I'm sorry," I said, frowning because I had to decline.

He reciprocated the frown, "Really? What about tomorrow?"

I thought about it for a while. If I could convince my mom tonight that I would be perfectly fine even with the injury then she'd probably let me go. "I think I'm good," I said, offering him a smile, "after class?"

"Yosh!" He said, jumping and beaming and me with those shiny white teeth of his, "After tennis practice. You can come watch me!"

"You play tennis?" I was honestly shocked. This boy that could hardly stay awake for 30 minutes played tennis?

"Hai, I'm a regular."

"I see. I'll be there then."

"Hooray! I can show you my Magic Volley!" He said while picking up his things, and I saw that he indeed had a tennis bag with him.

But really, magic volley? Was he serious?

"Oh, where did Shishido go?" He said all of a sudden, "He was here just a minute ago."

Looking around, I saw that pretty head was indeed gone. Funny, though, that Jirou would ask for him. They must have been pretty close, or it could have been that they were working on something together since they were with each other yesterday lunch time as well (though it's a little early to be working on any projects, don't you think?).

"Ah! There's Oshitari! I really have to go now, Yoko-chan!"

Was he doing this on purpose? "It's Yuko," I said with a sigh for the nth time.

"Ne, ne, ne, I'll see you tomorrow okay!" He said, shaking my arm before dashing out the door (while ignoring my correction – again). And as I watched him dash out the room, I caught sight of him jumping on a boy with shaggy blue hair.

I was absolutely sure it was the same guy I saw pretty head with yesterday. I mean, really, how many boys have blue hair? (…so, there might be a lot here, but I wouldn't know that yet)

Were they good friends? So that would mean Jirou knew of their relationship well, but it's not exactly something I can bring up out of the blue in conversation. Or, what if…

No.

Nope.

Can't be.

He's too adorable.

Jirou can't be gay too.

…Nah.

Okay, now I'm being a little too paranoid.

For the first time though, and I hoped it would also be the last, I was rather glad that I had to move slowly because of my injury. It gave me time to sort out my thoughts, which were very messed up.

My goodness, if my whole stay in Hyoutei is going to be this way, then I don't really know how I'd survive.

* * *

><p><strong><em>And here's the second chapter!<em>**

**_The image of Atobe is very different here from my other story, but that's because it would be odd if I kept him the same way. Also, the ending was a little weak, I think. I might get around to fixing it some time, but for now, I'll just be working on the next part. Thank you to those who reviewed, I really didn't think I'd get much for this, haha!_**

**_So anyway, comments and suggestions are appreciated, as always, so do drop a review._**


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